Specific heat capacity and dendritic growth kinetics of liquid peritectic Fe-Cu alloys

The specific heat and dendritic growth of highly undercooled peritectic Fe-Cu alloys were investigated by electromagnetic levitation technique. The specific heat values of liquid peritectic Fe_92.8Cu_7.2 and hyperperitectic Fe_88.5Cu_11.5 alloys were determined to be 40.4 and 39.58 J·mol^-1·K^-1 over wide temperature ranges. The measured growth velocities rose rapidly with increasing undercooling, which reached 69 and 68 m·s^-1 at the maximum undercoolings of 401 K (0.23 T_L) and 468 K (0.27 T_L). The microstructures of peritectic Fe-Cu alloys were refined significantly with enhanced undercooling. Theoretical analyses showed that almost segregationless solidification was realized if undercooling was sufficiently large.